(Kim Manfredi, Cofounder of Desert Open Studios At Her Studio In Cathedral City)

Coachella Valley, CA

Desert Open Studios is celebrating its third year offering two weekends in a row of free insider- art experience. This self-guided art-tour which originally began in April of 2021 is starting the weekend of March 18th. The tour spans across the Coachella Valley, uniting 144 local artists. The tour is a unique way for the public to connect with artists, observe their processes, purchase artwork, and explore spaces usually not open to outsiders.

Visitors design a free customized adventure using an interactive map and get access to a free PDF handbook which includes an easy to use artist index.

The Sampler Exhibition at CVAC opens Friday March 17th from 5 – 8 PM and runs through March 31. The tour commences Saturday & Sunday March 18-19 as well as March 25 – 26 , from 11 – 4 PM

The tour spans the Coachella Valley uniting the east and west art scenes. Regions include Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta and Indio with the inclusion of Desert Hot Springs and Pinyon Pines as part of the valley. There are several artists hubs, communities and art centers where groups of artists have come together to create micro communities. Hubs include Via Negocio in Palm Springs and Perez Road in Cathedral City and The Create Center in Palm Desert. Hubs are designated on our maps making finding artists easy and fun. Tour guests can split days into east and west, north or south.

Desert Open Studios Background

The Desert Open Studios tour has been a substantial success for artists and the art loving public. The roster of artists has grown from 60 to 150 in three short years. The founders, Anne Bedrick, Lynda Keeler, Chris Blades and Kim Manfredi wanted to share a wide range of artistic practices across the valley. They wanted to show the variety of creative processes involved in producing paintings, sculptures, mixed media, photography, ceramics, glassworks and jewelry. As a result Coachella Valley comes together to share new works and give the public a sneak peek into the private world of artmaking. This tour is free, making it accessible to all economic brackets of the public and its nominal registration fee makes the tour accessible to a wide range of artists. In other words, everyone is welcome.